Few local publishers cater for the teen market and it can be hard to find stories that resonate with South African youth.
Few local publishers cater for the teen market and it can be hard to find stories that resonate with South African youth.
FunDza is a Cape Town-based company that prides itself on developing the 'right' sort of content for local teens.
They have developed a series of books – the Harmony High series, written by Ros Haden and Sivuyile Mazanzi – which centre on the real-life issues and choices faced by a group of teens.
The narratives are gripping and fast-paced; and, the messages positive, but not preachy. The accessible language, short chapters and exciting plots keep readers wanting more.
Last year a consignment of these books was donated to Mary Waters High School and they promptly went viral.
The books can also be loaned from both Duna Library and Fingo Library in Grahamstown and a new consignment will arrive in town soon to meet the demand.
Meanwhile, the FunDza mobi network commissions published authors to write short stories for a teen audience.
Although prices and traditional distribution channels represent barriers to widespread reading and buying of books among SA's poorer communities, South Africans have a high level of access to cellphones across all communities and demographics, and FunDza leverages this penetration via its mobi-network.
FunDza interacts with members through mobile phones and has grown a huge community of young readers.
The FunDza mobi network includes a please-call-me facility, bulk SMS and a mobi site that feeds content to the hugely popular Mxit platform.
Via the FunDza mobi network, readers or "FunDza Fanz" can access new content that is released in serial format on a daily basis; provide feedback on the books or stories they read and enter regular writing competitions.
In addition, readers can get their own work published in the FunDza Fanz section of the mobi site.
The interactive nature of the platform gives readers a sense of ownership of the content – they are collaborators, rather than consumers.
Check out FunDza here or here, or find them on Mxit at: Mxit > Tradepost > Mxit Reach > mobiBooks > FunDza.
